A Cold Kiss
by TheRedSin
Summary: Thought that a kiss would never be cold? RxR


Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters...

This was my first time writing a battle scene so please bear with it! Hope you'll like this! Let's just assume that in this story, Karin already knows about everything and everyone in Soul Society. Please RxR! xD

**Terminologies:**

[1] All of water is my weapon… All of heaven is under my control…

[2] Frozen Heaven Hundred Flower Funeral

[3] Enemy/foe/opponent

[4] NO!

[5] Hey, Toushirou… Why?

[6] – [7] That's because… I love you…

[8] I love you too.

[9] Then why, Toushirou?

[10] Why leave me? I don't understand anymore!

* * *

**A Cold Kiss**

Clangs of metals were the only sounds that were heard as of the moment. A fierce battle was up against the ice dragon wielder and the espada tres. It was a tight combat, both were even, not letting their own guards down even for the briefest of the seconds.

Any type of wound, from scratches and contusions, abrasions and concussions, to lacerations and avulsions, each of the fighters had them. Cuts, some deep, some shallow, were also present. It could be said that the two were already soaked from blood bath. Some of the gore had started to dry and left dark stains on their skins and clothes.

The battle was longer than anticipated. They were finally approaching their limitations. The espada backed a safe distance from her enemy, buying little time to regenerate lost strength.

The warriors were already using their final and most powerful form. Bankai for the shinigami taicho and Resurrección for the arrancar. A little light shone from the sun, which had been hiding behind the covers of the dark storm clouds, grazed the child prodigy's tattered ice wings, making him glimmer. He was once again in his fighting stance, clutching the hilt of his zanpakutou firmly.

The momentum of the battle had been raised and was now in full throttle as it had once again carried on.

A gash from earlier on the shinigami's right shoulder, which was still bleeding copiously, numbed his arm that led to his enemy breaking his defense. He received a deep long slash from his abdomen to his lower torso causing him to cough up a good amount of blood. There was he, trying to stand on his own, using his zanpakutou as support as the blood continuously drip from the most recent wound he had procured.

A loud shriek was heard, "T-Toushirou!" At long last, she had found her voice that was stuck in her throat all the while the battle started. He tore his gaze from his foe and look at their spectator, the one he was desperately protecting from the nemesis, the one who screamed his name in horror. Her eyes were wide from fear; she couldn't take the sight in front of her any loner. As teal orbs met sable ones, he could read that she was pleading him to stop the fight for he was endangering his life. He gave her the look that said 'Trust me.'

Their little eye-to-eye conversation was broken when he heard her enemy said 'Is it alright for you to take your eyes off your foe?'. He was nearly sliced again but he evaded from the last of the seconds. 'Shimatta!' cursed he.

She felt bilious, not just because of the blood everywhere but also from the fact that Hitsugaya Toushirou, Juubantai taicho of Goteijuusantai, the one who held captive of her heart, was in very profound pain, sacrificing himself just to make certain she would be away from any peril, breathing and whole.

As the fight ensued, Hitsugaya was able to catch his adversary, Tia Harribel, off - guard and managed to get back at her for the wound on his shoulder that she gave him. He had impaled her right through her stomach, crushing a main organ in her body. 'Kuso! He'd hit an organ. High-speed regeneration is useless for this kind of wound and this means that I only now have limited time to kill him.' thought she. It momentarily took her breath away as she gasped in agony, fell on her knees and grasped her wound.

By now, both parties had conclusively reached their cutoff points. Tia Harribel's mask had started shattering long ago and what was left of it now was only a quarter. HItsugaya, on the other hand, had only 3 more rose petals. They were now battling beyond their limits and therefore, the victor of the battle shall be decided by the one who has more willpower, the more tenacious.

Harribel fired a Cero and Hitsugaya just sliced it with Hyourinmaru. He commented on it being weak. He concluded that they were both waiting for the battlefield to be filled with condensation, thus when that happens, she would use the opportunity to finish him off with her one last full blow. Thenceforth, he elucidated that he needed not wait for the water as all the water was his weapon and all of heaven was under his control. [1]"Subete no mizu wa...ore no buki... Subete no sora mo…ore no shihaika da...," He subsequently revealed his never before seen attack.

The sky turned pitched-black than before and as he bellowed [2]"Hyōten Hyakkasō!," a bluish-white light shot up to the firmament from his sword and made a huge chasm amidst the dark livid brume that stigmatized the wild blue empyrean. From the abyss, a massive volume of sleet egressed consorted with an earsplitting resonance, en route to his [3]kataki. Harribel endeavored to offset it with her Cascada however, it was futile for the onslaught was instantaneously frozen. But it broke into tiny shards of ice. The avalanche from the azure perished as it happened. She thought that the assailment was efficacious and was ready to fire her Hirviendo when she was immobilized upon realizing that the shards of ice that broke a while back which landed on her sword bloomed into an ice flower.

A calm statement escaped Hitsugaya's lips. "Once it touches anything, an ice flower will instantly bloom, just like what's happening to you right now." His back was facing her while ice flowers began to encase Harribel slowly. "You won't be able to avenge your underlings after all for once the entire hundred ice flowers have bloomed, you're then going to die," added he.

Her Resurrección had finally disappeared as her mask completely broke. She was back in her real form and so was her sword. By the time he finished his last words for her, she was already encased up to her middle torso.

Grasping the very fact that she no longer has the capability to defeat him, she thought of one last scheme to avenge her Fracciónes. Gathering all of her energy for her final attack, she pointed her sword toward someone.

Knowing that it was useless to struggle to fight him, that thought crossed her mind. Harribel smirked. She won't be able to avenge her subordinates by killing him but she could just do the same for him. She would kill her in exchange for killing Mila-Rose, Sun-Sun, & Apache. "Do you think I'll just die without killing one of you? That girl will be the sacrifice…" said she. It was so low that it was almost inaudible, but Hitsugaya heard her.

She was talking nonsense. He couldn't comprehend what she had said, until the moment he turned to face Harribel. What he saw had shaken him up. She was planning to fire her Ultimate Cero. It was not the one that really took him aback; it was the very prospect of the Cero not being aimed to him but to that person. His mind was in chaos but as Harribel said the word he dreaded to hear, the word "Cero" that is, his body moved on an impulse.

It was not just the cero that headed toward that person but also her sword. The cero swathed the sword. He chased after it as fast as he could. "KARIN!" He screamed on top of his lungs. She had her eyes close for she was praying oh so badly to their Kami-sama to let him win the fight. But as she heard his trembling voice calling her, she immediately looked toward the source of the voice.

She was stunned beyond imagination, the sword of the enemy was now only a few feet away from and Hitsugaya was trying his very best to pursue and stop it in time before it would reach her. She was rooted to where she was.

It was a do or die situation. He was running after it as if his life was on lit. Well, his life was really on it for Karin was his life for him although, he hadn't told it to her yet.

It was useless! He couldn't keep up with its speed. With all the injuries and blood loss, he was in no more good condition to stop it. He also had one more petal left. By the seconds that passed, it was getting closer and closer to her. She had closed her eyes and lowered her head, finally accepting her fate, she will die here. All of Hitsuagaya's efforts of protecting her would be put to vain. "Arigatou, Toushirou...," whispered she.

It was only one foot away from her and she was already expecting it to be her end in 1 or so seconds. But it didn't come. She only felt something wet that grazed her cheek and heard something crack and turn into some small pieces, what were those, she didn't know. She touched her cheek, it was tacky. She opened her eyes to see what it was. Upon opening them, she was confused; it was blood that was on her hand. Why there was a blood on her face was what she had asked herself.

Karin lifted her head as to see what caused the blood that was splattered on her face. She raised it ever so slowly; afraid that what she was concluding was what happened. The vista in front of her made her body shook in trepidation.

A loud thunder came from the sky and then lightning flashed, signaling that a very strong storm was coming up.

She examined herself, she was full of blood. Her clothes were wringing wet with it. But it was not her blood, it was from another person, it was _his_. Her orbs were wide and Kurosaki Karin, the headstrong girl, was out of her mind anymore. She was staring at both of her hands; it was full of blood too. She heard a thud.

She faced front again but he was not there anymore. _The thud…_ thought she. She turned her gazed unwillingly on the cold, harsh ground. There she saw his almost lifeless form. She fell down on her knees and as she took in the sight of him and gazed again on her hands, she finally screamed, [4]"IYAAAAAAAAAA!" A sudden release of enormous reiatsu followed suit.

The screamed echoed throughout the fake Karakura town and it was heard by the others out on the battlefield. They also felt the sudden fading & bursting of reiatsus. They recognized it as theirs. They also just finished fighting their own opponents and they succeeded. The war wasn't over yet, Ichigo still needed to defeat Aizen. Unohana-taicho was immediately asked to head toward them.

Karin gradually reached out to him her trembling hand as to touch his face full of wounds and blood. Her waterworks streamed like a river overflowing, her ebony locks were obscuring her vision as it fell, hanging like a black curtain of sorrow.

She moved closer to him and placed his head gently on her arms, cuddling him. She was crying her heart out and she kept on repeating his name using a low tone as if it was a chant that would start healing him. Her locks came in contact with his face as she inched his face closer to hers.

Hitsugaya could hear her sorrowful sobs and the way he said his name for how many times told him that she was in deep pain. He gathered the last bits of energy left in him and opened his eyes. She felt his eyes starting to flutter and so she pulled away gently to look at him. Teal orbs were once again revealed after the opening of the eyelids.

Upon meeting them, she once again broke down and without holding back, embraced him tightly. She realized what she did and immediately let go of him. Her tears were still flowing and it won't stop. "Why did you do that? [5]Ne, Toushirou! Doushite?" Her voice wavered while saying this.

Hitsugaya just gave him a very tiny smile and lift his right hand to stroke her hair that blocked his view of her beautiful face. He cupped her cheek after and said, [6]"Sore ga… '_I guess it's time to tell her…'_ ore no tame anata o…" He stared at her intently and continued, "[7]aishite iru…" His eyes conveyed all the feelings that words couldn't describe.

Karin held his hand that cupped her cheek with her two hands and stared lovingly at him. [8]"Atashi mo…aishite da…" Never ending tears were on her eyes that were smiling though she wasn't. For this surprising development, both were anticipating a little which was unlike the two of them.

"I want to s-stay *coughs* like this, gazing at each other but *coughs with blood* I-I can't stay by your side forever…" He pulled his hand that was held by her to wipe the blood off his mouth.

"What are you trying to say, Toushirou? Don't kid me. We're in no mood for jokes. Come on now, don't say such things…" She tried saying it as casual and playful but her voice betrayed her and her smile faltered.

She could feel it, his reiatsu was decreasing rapidly. "Toushirou, hold on! Unohana-taicho is on her way here! Don't go dying on me, Toushirou! Don't you dare!" said Karin, she gave it her best to sound angry and commanding but it was fruitless. It came out in a soft tone, pleading as it quivered. She was preventing herself from crying again. She had promised to not cry anymore and be strong but she just couldn't help it.

"S-stop crying, Karin. Smile for me, one last time. I don't want to… leave you this way." He held her face with both hands, shuffling her face closer to him. He caressed it for a while then wiped her tears off using his thumbs. Hearing him say her name gave her joy but the pain was still there, evident on her face; she tried to smile and she managed to flash a small one.

"Thank you, Karin, for smiling, for making me feel human again and for loving me the way I am. *coughs heavily* Even if… I won't be by your side…any longer than this… Always remember…these feelings of mine will last…eter..nally…" His eyes shut and his body fell limp. His life came along with the wind that blew, leaving his corpse with the only one person he loved.

Karin shook her head furiously. At first, it came out as a whisper "No, Toushirou...," and then louder "No, Toushirou," and then it turned into a scream of agony. "TOUSHIROU! IIIYYYAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The rain that was held up a while back at long last fell hard, soaking the two bodies. It was like the heavens were also grieving from the loss. Karin's tears were masked by the heavy rain. She had no intention of leaving his body there.

The others felt the vanishing of his reiatsu, their heads were down expressing their grief at the loss of another great captain. By the time the Yonbantai taicho arrived, she could see the young Kurosaki taking Hitsugaya on her arms once again.

"Ne, Toushirou. Open your eyes, I wanna see them again, those cool teal orbs that mystified me. Say something, say my name once more, I wanna hear your voice…" She broke down again but Unohana-taicho was oblivious of it because of the hair that covered Karin's face and also of the heavy downpour.

She finally gave up, she had now grasped that he was gone…and never coming back again, that she wouldn't be able to see his eyes nor hear him call her name ever again, that there would be no more ruffling of white locks that defied gravity. She had ceased her crying.

"Didn't you say you love me? [9]Ja doushite, Toushirou? [10]Doushite atashi o nokoshi? Mou wakaranai!" His body now felt cold against her as she embraced his corpse tightly.

Karin seceded from his cold face, she then examined his every feature, touching them, to always remember them. She touched his lips; she thought that hers never met them and will never anymore. But she did what her heart told her to do.

She kissed him, their first and last. It was light and innocent but full of anguish. "I-I never thought… that a kiss would get so.. co-cold like t-this…" She struggled to say it for the words were stuck in her throat.

"I thought, everything could get so cold but a kiss? The idea never even crossed my mind. My intuition was it would always be warm, bringing happy sensation to one another but why was that kiss different? It was too cold and what it brought me was only sorrow and pain…" she cried once again for the umpteenth time that day.

Unaware of the surroundings, Karin didn't notice the arrival of the other shinigamis. They felt a great surge of pity for the two. The scene before their eyes was very heartrending.

His body was beginning to dematerialize into particles and when this happened, Karin clutched onto his body, not wanting to let go. As his body completely perished, all that was left in her arms was his zanpakutou, the one he used to protect her with his life. Rivers of tears streamed more from her eyes. "Toushirou..," she uttered for one last time.

She held into it firmly. She was tired from all the crying, she must stop. She rubbed the waterworks off by the back of her hand. Upon regaining composure, she finally noticed the other presence that were present. She looked at them.

They could see that her eyes were bloodshot but what they notice the most was the dullness in her eyes. It was like a soul did not inhabit her body; her eyes were empty. It had the looks of someone being possessed.

The rain continued to pour down and showed no sign of coming to a rest. It does not only apply to that world but also in Karin's.

* * *

I might make a sequel if you would like! xD There's a poll in my profile regarding it, please vote! xD

~TRS


End file.
